They wouldn't dare ask Roger Eikam for the mechanical core!
Even if that thing could bring visible economic development and a dramatic boost in military power to the world, they absolutely didn't have the guts to demand it from him.
Not getting blasted out of the door by him was already the best possible outcome!
Now, the moment they heard Roger's name, fear gripped them on instinct. They wished Eldia—and Roger—could be erased from this world entirely.
But there was no way around it. Even if they added up all their strength, they still couldn't surpass the Titans.
In the past, they at least had the courage to fight Titans head-on, using anti-Titan cannons to blow them apart.
But now?
These cannons were something even Eldia could mass-produce with ease—and their precision was in no way inferior. In fact, they were even more advanced.
Challenging them under these circumstances was nothing but suicide!
And so, on the issue of the mechanical core, nations across the world fell silent and stopped talking.
However, not everyone was that sensible—nor that smart. Even knowing Roger would never hand it over, they still issued harsh condemnations, demanding that Roger "donate" the mechanical core so that everyone in the world could enjoy its benefits.
In other words: "for the good of all mankind."
Roger found it laughable.
He was the one who paid Onyankopon to build it—so now they wanted to swallow the technology whole, without paying a single coin. What kind of dream world was that?
But as for the greedy humans of this world, he no longer wanted to waste words.
These scum only dared to spread such talk behind the scenes. In public, they all wore the same ugly face of flattering compliance.
Facing him—this hegemonic power—no one dared stand up and resist.
They had all turned into vile little schemers, capable only of plotting in the shadows.
Roger understood: if not for Nelly Quick, he would have been set up by these small countries already.
Unfortunately for them, the person they ran into was someone exceptionally shrewd.
Nelly would never give them the slightest opening. Even the moment they entertained a trace of malicious intent, she would eradicate it with ruthlessly overbearing methods.
The world's peace owed half its credit to Nelly, and the other half to Roger.
And because of that, Roger no longer needed to worry about anything in this world.
What occupied his mind now was how to conquer the myriad worlds—how to draw the people of other worlds into his territory as well.
It wasn't plunder, exactly. He simply wanted to eliminate every possible latent enemy, to ensure that everything beautiful in this world would never be destroyed.
Before that, he first had to wage war against the one hiding behind Dior.
He knew that after Dior's death, that bastard would never let it go. Sooner or later, he would find a way to approach Roger—and kill him.
That he still hadn't approached yet clearly meant one of two things.
Either he hadn't realized.
Or he believed his own ability was still insufficient to fight Roger.
Roger felt the first possibility was impossible. Dior had been dead for many days—if that man knew, he would have struck immediately, never giving Roger a single breath of respite. And if his strength truly was overwhelming, then Roger would have had no chance to breathe at all.
At the very least, Roger wouldn't give an enemy that chance.
Yet here he was—still alive, unscathed, with no attacks and no signs of an impending strike.
Roger wouldn't claim he was invincible, but from this alone, he at least wouldn't lose too miserably.
In the eyes of the one behind Dior, Roger was likely a troublesome opponent as well.
Killing Dior had probably dealt that man a heavy blow.
But Roger knew the battle would begin sooner or later—and sooner or later, he would step onto the battlefield and butcher him.
Until then, making thorough preparations was the highest priority.
The mechanical core was an extraordinary thing. It could turn a person into an omnipotent superhuman—capable of soaring to the heavens and diving into the abyss.
So Roger began to think: if he used the mechanical core to turn every Titan under his control into [Super Titans], would that increase his power?
With that thought, he immediately began arrangements—having Onyankopon mass-produce the mechanical core so he could equip all of his Titans, and issuing a nationwide call to organize every Titan volunteer.
Within his Paths, he also made a promise to Ymir: as long as he erased every threat from other worlds, he would grant her freedom.
Ymir didn't actually desire freedom—but since her master had spoken, she would do it. Uncomplaining. Without regret.
The Parasite was a species without consciousness, knowing only how to reproduce. In essence, it was a tool. After Roger began using it, that tool became increasingly handy.
Roger used it to govern the nation, to pacify a chaotic era, and to create vast numbers of Titans—Titans meant to assault the myriad worlds.
Before that hidden enemy could even reveal himself, Roger had already armed his Titans to perfection.
The Titans in his hands could do anything—fly, burrow, dive—because the mechanical cores could forge a pair of mechanical wings for them, or attach to their bodies and turn them into steel Titans. They could plunge into the sea and drill into the earth—capable of anything.
This transformation of the Titan legion filled the world with terror.
They no longer dared whisper bad things about Roger in secret, afraid that one day tens of thousands of Super Titans would drop from their skies and smash them into pulp.
And yet, even so, Roger still felt it wasn't enough.
What if his enemy was vastly stronger than even this?
He didn't fight unprepared wars. So he resolved to push the Titan power—the very origin of this world—to its absolute limit.
He wanted to recover the Colossal Titan and the Cart Titan.
The previous Colossal Titan, Bertholdt, and the previous Cart Titan, Pieck Finger, had both died by his hand. According to the curse of the Titans, these two Titans would reappear in newly born Eldians.
Right now, they should still be children.
Roger didn't want to eat them immediately, but at the very least, he had to find them—he couldn't allow them to fall into the hands of other nations and become leverage against him.
He simply didn't expect that at the very moment he decided to search, those two Titans would suddenly appear—already in the worst possible outcome.
They had fallen into the hands of a hostile nation.
And that nation was extremely cautious. No matter how Roger probed, they refused to offer them up—nor were they willing to use them in war.